Josh is a bullied boy who meets the mysterious Flaen one day as he tries to escape his pursuers. Flaen is from another dimension and stuck. But Flaen's problems haven't gone away and soon Josh is dragged in as well.

Panting,
Josh raced across the street and into the park. He dodged around the
trees and benches, heading to the little hollow surrounded by trees.
He'd be safe there. Just as he reached his haven, he looked over
his shoulder for pursuit and so wasn't looking when he crashed
through the bushes, causing him to trip and roll across the ground.
Spitting out dirt and leaves that had gotten into his mouth, the boy
turned around to find out what had tripped him.

There,
rubbing his legs where Josh had accidentally struck him was a young
man who couldn't be much older then himself. What had Josh staring
was the fact he was obviously dressed in armour. Black leather armour
with steel shoulders that had spikes coming out of them with a
matching spiked collar. His pants were baggy and black and he was
wearing a wide red sash about his waist.

Josh's
contemplation was interrupted by voices and he froze. "Where'd he
go?" That was Chris, his chief tormenter.

"Dunno.
He's too frigging fast." That was Tyler.

"Well
get him tomorrow. We've got to go back or we'll be late for
practice." Chris replied.

Josh
released the breath he'd been holding in a sigh of relief. He was
safe for today. He returned his attention to the stranger he'd
tripped over. They both stared at each other for a long moment before
three boys burst though the bushes, much as Josh had done earlier.

Pushing
himself backwards, Josh attempted to make a break for it. Tyler and
Ryan grabbed his legs and dragged him back towards them.

"Trying
to hide on us, huh?" Chris sneered and caught sight of the stranger
who was still sitting on the ground. "Who's this? Another freak
like you?"

The bully
moved until he was standing over the man in armour. "You must be
some kind of fantasy-geek, huh? No wonder you and that freak are
hanging out." Chris leaned down until their faces were level as he
said this before grabbing the man and hauling him to his feet or at
least he tried to.

Almost as
soon as Chris's hand encircled the stranger's wrist, the
armour-clad man broke the grip and swept the boy's feet out from
under him. "Don't touch me." He said as he stood up slowly,
danger oozing from every pore. At least that's the way it seemed to
Josh who watched, wide-eyed as Chris clambered to his feet, face red
and with a sound like an enraged bull, charged the stranger.

Neatly
side-stepping him, the man slammed his fist into the back of Chris's
head, sending him flying. Here, Tyler and Ryan released Josh and
leaped forward for the attack. The stranger kicked Tyler in the
chest, ducked Ryan's punch before landing a solid hi to Ryan's
jaw, causing his head to snap up.

All three
boys picked themselves up and fled, knowing they had no chance
against this armoured man. The Stranger snorted once at their
retreating backs before turning around. He stopped short when he saw
Josh standing in front of him, staring.

"What?"
he asked.

"Umm…
Thanks. They…well they don't like me and you got rid of them and
well…thanks. And I'm really sorry about tripping over you
earlier."

The man
snorted again.

"Uh…
well I'm Josh. Josh Jacobs. Pleased to meet you." He said
sticking his hand out.

"Flaen."
The man replied and gave Josh's hand the briefest of shakes.

"Uh,
did you get lost on the way to a con or something? Josh asked after a
moment of silence in which Flaen took in his surroundings.

"Con?"

"A
convention. You know like a gaming convention or something."

He
snorted a third time. "No." After a moment of hesitation he
added. "I'm lost."

"Well
where are you heading? You're in St. Francis Park about ten blocks
from downtown, if that's any help."

"No
it's not. Where is the nearest inn?"

"Inn?
Umm… there's a hotel at one end of town and a motel about a
fifteen minute walk that way." Josh replied, after a second of
thought, pointing."

Flaen
stared at him for a long minute before looking around again.

"Where
are you from?" Josh asked.

"Mayclow."
Flaen replied with obvious reluctance.

"Where's
that?"

The man
whirled about to stare at Josh who returned his gaze with surprise.
"What country am I in?"

"Canada.
Why?"

Flaen's
eyes narrowed. "I am farther away then I thought." He hissed.

"Why?
What country is Mayclow in?"

For a
long time Flaen studied Josh, almost as if he was trying to red his
soul. Finally he seemed to come to a decision. "Mayclow is a
country."

"Eh?
I've never heard of it."

Snorting
was obviously Flaen's favoured response. "I've been sent
through from my dimension to this one."

"Another
dimension?" Josh was mentally reeling. This kind of thing only
happened in books.

Here
Flaen rolled his eyes. "I need to know about this world. You will
teach me."

Josh
blinked several times before nodding. "I guess that'd be best.
You'd better come home with me." The boy had just decided this
was a dream and he had might as well go along with it. Another
dimension? That was impossible.

So with
Flaen in tow, Josh made his way home, ignoring the strange looks they
got from passer-bys. They were lucky Josh lived nearby or they might
have run into trouble. As it was they were safely inside within ten
minutes.

"That
you J.J?" A voice called from the office.

"No. My
name's Josh, not J.J, Derrick!"

Laughter
followed that statement and soon a man with the same blondish-brown
hair as Josh appeared. He raised an eyebrow in Flaen's direction.
"Who's this? New friend?"

"This
is Flaen. He's from another dimension."

"Uh
huh. Is he staying for dinner?"

"Actually
is it alright if he stays with us for a while until I teach him about
our world?" Josh asked, grinning. Even in dreams it wasn't often
he got to shock Derrick like this. He'd dismissed his earlier
comment as a joke.

"Oy did
you get hit in the head or something?"

"No.
Flaen got rid of Chris and them today."

"What?
They tried to beat you up again?"

"Yah,
but I'm alright."

Derrick
shook his head. "This needs to be dealt with."

"I'm
fine."

Josh's
oldest brother sighed. "Your friend can stay as long as he likes. I
have work to do so I won't see you until dinner." With that
Derrick disappeared into his office.

Grinning,
Josh beckoned, leading Flaen to the spare room. "You can stay
here." He told Flaen. "You look like you're about Matt's
height so you can borrow some of his clothes until we get you some of
your own. Just wait here a sec, I'll be right back."

Josh
raced out of the guest room and into his older brother's room and
began rummaging through the piles of clean clothes Matt left on the
floor. Clean clothes were only discernable from dirty ones by the
fact that the clean ones were folded and the dirty ones just thrown
onto the ground. Finally he had a pair of jeans he knew to be
slightly too small for Matt and a shirt that looked like it might fit
Flaen.

With his
bounty piled in his arms, Josh ran back into the guest room and
presented Flaen with the clothes. "Try these on. I think they'll
fit. If they don't I can always go find some more."

Flaen
shrugged and Josh left him to try the clothes on. He went to his own
room and dropped his book bag on the floor. He'd do his homework
later. If there was a later in this dream.

Grinning
at himself for thinking about doing homework in a dream, Josh
returned and knocked on the door to the guest room. "Enter." Came
Flaen's muffled voice.

Josh
opened the door and walked in. Flaen had the jeans on and was holding
the t-shirt, obviously about to put it on. Josh stared at him. There
were lots of light lines of scar tissue all over Flaen's chest.
"What happened?" he asked in shock.

Flaen
raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he asked before putting
the shirt on.

"The
scars! Your chest is covered in scars."

The
stranger shrugged. "I get a lot of injuries"

"But
there were so many. How'd you get them all?"

"From
making mistakes." Flaen said in a tone of finality.

Josh
opened his mouth and then shut it. He really shouldn't be pestering
Flaen with questions, even if it was a dream. Instead, Josh sat down
on the bed and asked. "So what do you want to know?"

"Everything."

"Umm…well
why don't you tell me about your world so I know what you already
know and I can tell you about ours."

Flaen
nodded. "Mayclow is a country on the western coast. Good shipping
trade. Capital is Grestir. King Betil is ruling now. Next in line is
Princess Drillilia. Mage Academy is one of the best on the continent.
We export a lot of wool and sheep."

"Whoa!
Did you say Mage Academy? You have magic?"

"I am
not a mage. There are plenty of mages in Mayclow though. Mages are
who sent me here."

"That's
so cool! We don't have magic."

"Then
what lights this room?"

"Electricity.
Like from lightning bolts but harnessed and controlled. It powers
pretty much everything. Lights, cars, anything electronic really."

Flaen
frowned. "What is cars?"

"Oh.
Umm… Come with me. I'll show you on the T.V."

So for
the next two hours, Josh taught Flaen using the T.V. It didn't take
long for the strange man to learn about cars, electricity and guns.
Flaen seemed to find guns and other weapons fascinating. Josh
explained as much as he himself knew about how they worked.

It was
after two hours that Josh's other brother, Matt, came home.

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